Long Beach has been unified in sports for more than a half-century. The Moore League was born in 1957 and five schools have been intact since the beginning – Poly, Millikan, Wilson, Lakewood and, except for one year, Jordan.

There’s a lot of strength in associations like that, too. But in one case that’s as obvious as the earth orbiting the sun, strength has been limited in football to one school to the detriment of the others.

Since 1980, Poly has lost just eight Moore League games covering 33-plus seasons. The Jackrabbits league record is 168-8-2, and they’ve won or shared the title most every season. From 1994 to 2009, they set a CIF state record of 80 consecutive league wins.

The other six schools, which include Compton (joined in 1970) and Cabrillo (2003), have suffered beyond the annual losses to Poly. Because Poly is a regional power, the Moore League remains in the upper division for postseason play – the Pac-5 – and no one but Poly has enjoyed much postseason success.

Since 1991, the six other schools are a combined 12-51 in the postseason, and Lakewood has seven of those wins. Millikan hasn’t won a postseason game since 1986, and Jordan since 1994. Not only are the other schools not enjoying success, but Poly has found league play to be a tedious detour between playing power teams in on-league play and then entering the Pac-5 playoffs.

Poly is 3-0 this season and has outscored its three league opponents 98-0.

It seems like time for a change.

“The problem we’re having is that our kids are not playing the level of competition in league play that we face in the postseason,’’ Poly Athletic Director Rob Shock said. “And the rest of the league isn’t getting any opportunities to have success because we’re in the Pac-5.

“We’d entertain any idea that would work for the best interests of the league as a whole.’’

Ideas are plentiful.

Poly could break away from the Moore just for football and become a freelance team. That would enable the Poly-less Moore League team to drop to a different division. The Southeast Division houses the Suburban League (like Norwalk) and San Gabriel Valley Leagues (Downey). Non-league games between Moore League teams and those leagues are usually competitive.

In 1977, the CIF-SS shuffled its alignment and the Moore League was not in the upper division league. As a result, Millikan, Poly and Compton won four straight CIF titles between 1977 and 1980. The league was moved up to the top division in 1982.

Wilson coach John Janzen noted before the season that he struggles every year to build a team with depth despite having a school with 4,000 students. Jordan and Compton struggle with numbers, too, often dressing 40 or fewer varsity players. Millikan is having a resurgence in 2013 after going 2-28 the previous three seasons.

No current head coach would openly support a breakup of the Moore League out of simple pride. They want to beat the best. Wilson would fight any proposal to separate from their lifelong rival. Lakewood has had enough success the last few decades to make them stand firm, too. But others see an upside.

“I believe it would be good for those schools,’’ Mario Morales, the former Wilson head coach who is now at St. Anthony. “It would give kids a chance to compete. I say that respectfully for those schools.

“It’s a challenge when there’s one school that accrues most of the talent. It’s hard for the other schools when the best players in our district all head to (1600) Atlantic Avenue.’’

Problem: “Who would play us?’’ asked Shock about becoming a freelance team. “We already have a problem getting (non-league) teams to play us. It’s not something we’ve talked about a lot for that reason.’’

A merger of two similar leagues could work, too. The top three teams from the Moore over the last few years (say, Poly, Lakewood, Wilson) could join the top three from the Sunset (Edison, Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor) and play in a Pac-5 league.

The four other Moore League teams would join Marina, Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley and play in the Southwest Division.

“We’d consider that idea,’’ Shock said. “Our coaches would like the tougher competition and it would put other schools in a better competitive environment. But I’m not sure the (Sunset schools) would feel the same way.’’

Problem: The CIF-Southern Section just finished its re-leaguing process and won’t look at it again until 2017. Schools that belong to athletic associations – the South Coast Assn. in Orange County, Tri-County Assn. in the West Valley – can make adjustments within their association.

The Moore League isn’t part of any association. “For a team to change leagues now, they would need unanimous consent from the old and the new league, and it would have to be for all sports,’’ CIF-SS spokesman Thom Simmons said.

Problem No. 2: Long Beach Unified enjoys its historical unity and it would not easily entertain any breakup of the league. You can count the changes since 1957 on one hand – Downey joined the league in 1959 and left after 1967 without posting a winning season; El Rancho joined the league in 1968, won four straight titles and then departed; Compton joined in 1970; and Cabrillo in 2003.

The CIF-SS went to a different model for basketball several years ago in which playoffs weren’t grouped by school instead of league, and CIF commissioner Rob Wigod has informally considered a similar system for football.

But there hasn’t been a large cry for it, because the system works well enough for most schools and leagues.

The Moore League is not one of them. In a sports world where parity is sought, it’s more like a parody for Moore League football.

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